Violet Turner and the Haunted House
by Severuslovesme
Summary: Violet and Cooper go to a Halloween fair. Hijinks ensue. Thanks to queenzulu for betaing!


"Guess what?" Cooper bounded into her office, apparently doing his best Tigger impersonation.

Violet tried to look stern but felt a smile creeping onto her face. "What?"

"Tommy, with the broken ankle, you know? His mom runs a haunted house! She told me all about it and it sounds great, and I was thinking we should go."

"A haunted house? No, thanks."

"Violet, come on, it'll be fun! I love haunted houses!" He was wheedling now, accompanied by over dramatic begging gestures.

"No way."

"Please?" He was using his puppy-dog face on her, and she knew he knew that it always worked.

"No way. Absolutely not."

"Violet, come on, it's going to be really, really fun!"

"I doubt it."

"Fun! You remember fun, right?"

"That's the only thing you've said about it. Fun."

"Ok, probably scary too, or if not scary, then fun to mock."

"I don't like monsters."

"I'll protect you. And what do you mean you don't like monsters? You're a grown woman."

"I know. And you know, I'm tough. I don't get scared by bugs, or psychological horror movies. But a guy in a bad mask jumping out at me? That scares me."

"You need a trip to the haunted house, to overcome this ridiculous fear."

"They _jump_ out, Cooper! It's scary."

He was firm. "We're going."

Violet just sighed.

Violet got out of her car, scanning the parking lot for Cooper. The sky was bright blue and there was a little breeze. It wasn't cool out yet, but the bales of hay and smell of apple cider were reminiscent of fall. There were worse things than spending the afternoon in a haunted house, she supposed.

"Hey." Cooper had snuck up behind her. She jumped a little bit, and Cooper grinned.

"Save it for the haunted house, twitchy."

"Shut up, Coop." She looked around. "Where's everybody else?"

"What?"

"I thought they were coming?"

"Who?" Cooper looked distracted.

"Naomi, Pete, Sam, you know, everyone."

Cooper looked up sharply. "Wha – oh, they couldn't make it. Work commitments. Lots of patients."

"On a Saturday?"

"Yeah, freak thing. Happens sometimes." He cleared his throat and pointed toward the entrance.

The haunted house was a carefully dilapidated building at the edge of a Halloween carnival with a few rides and some food stands and what looked like a hayride. They walked toward the house slowly, trying to avoid stepping on the hordes of children running and shrieking through the fair.

"Cooper, who ever heard of going to a haunted house during the afternoon? Wouldn't it be scarier at night?"

He grinned. "Gotta think outside of the box, Vi. Besides, it might have been too scary for you at night."

She scowled at him.

"Let's go!" He grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the door.

They got to the second room – a recreation of the shower scene from _Psycho _– before Violet realized that they were still holding hands. Even weirder than that was that it was almost … nice.

The third room held a zombie-like creature that lurched toward them and she shrieked and ran into the next room, pulling Cooper after her. He was laughing at her, so she hit him on the arm.

"I don't like monsters."

"Yeah, you mentioned that." He was still laughing.

They passed through several more rooms, with themes like vampires and werewolves and _The Shining_. A couple of times figures dressed like Frankenstein or Freddy Krueger lurched out of the darkness toward them, wielding axes or chainsaws that she sincerely hoped were fake. One room freaked Cooper out, so she got to laugh at him for a change. The room was full of balloons, but once they walked in clowns with knives started popping up from the floor while a strobe light blinded them. Cooper's yelp was very girlish, as she made sure to tell him multiple times.

She suspected that they were near the end of the house, and the next door they entered had a sign that read: "The Screaming Skull."

"Screaming Skull, what do you think that is?" she asked.

Cooper pretended to think it over very seriously. "Possibly it sings show tunes?"

"Then I would be the one screaming," she replied.

Still smiling, they pushed the door open. The so-called "Screaming Skull" lay in a patch of light on a rickety table. Violet looked at it, unsure what the trick was supposed to be. The skull was rocking a little bit, probably a string tied to the table leg, she thought. But, was it _growing?_

She glanced at Cooper when it became apparent that the skull was actually getting bigger. His mouth was open and he was staring at the table. She reached for his hand.

The skull was still growing bigger and bigger, and all they could do was stare. Finally it seemed to stop, or at least slow, which was good because it was the size of a watermelon and the table's legs were looking shaky. She and Cooper watched as the jaw creaked open, and a sound came out. It was…a scream; she guessed that would be the best thing to describe it. But she was a little busy covering her ears with her hands to describe it. Violet could feel the scream in her bones, every feeling of desperation and panic she'd ever have hitting her like a truck. What the hell was this thing?

In her haze of panic she felt Cooper groping for her, and she held on tight as they lurched through the exit. They slammed the door, but could still hear the skull's wailing behind them.They looked at each other and by mutual agreement ran the last few steps, bursting out into the late afternoon sunlight.

"I…that was scary," Violet began.

"I agree."

"Maybe we could do something less scary now? Like a hayride?"

Cooper smiled at her. "You read my mind."

They sat in silence for a little while, watching the scenery trundle by.

"This reminds me; one year my friends and I went to a Halloween carnival. It was a lot like this. Colder though." Violet shifted a little on the scratchy hay bale.

"Famous California sunshine. Can't beat it." Cooper tipped his head back and squinted at the sky.

He was warm and solid next to her, and she impulsively took his hand and squeezed it. When they ended up back where they started, next to the apple cider seller, Cooper reached up and helped her down from the wagon. He absently picked a piece of hay out of her hair. A little flutter went through her at how close he was, but she ignored it.

They wandered around the stalls, and Cooper bought her a candied apple and it was only then that she realized this was a date. _A date. With Cooper. _Oh, and that's why everyone else wasn't there – he hadn't invited them. Ok. She stopped in the middle of the dirt path to think about this.

"Vi, c'mon, let's get in line!" Cooper was gesturing toward the Ferris wheel and grinning. She allowed him to pull her along while her mind raced in ten different directions.

She and Cooper were on a date. Ok.

She tried to figure out exactly how she felt about this while they rode the Ferris wheel and played a game involving squirt guns and targets, and rode the tilt-a-whirl, after which she almost threw up. Cooper made fun of her until her insistence on riding the rollercoaster unearthed his fear of rollercoasters. Then she teased him. And made him ride the rollercoaster anyway.

It was well on its way to twilight when they walked out of the fair, Cooper's arm around her like a blanket. Violet was well on her way to being ok with this being a date, especially now that Cooper was a warm barrier from the chill air.

He paused, arm still around her. "Want to come over? We can order pizza and I rented _Queen of Outer Space._"

"Why on earth did you rent that?"

"Curiosity, mainly. And, it's Halloween."

"Yeah, ok, that sounds fun." In her new state of hyperawareness she saw his eyes light up.

"Meet you there."

Violet spent the drive to Cooper's trying to figure out what the hell was going on. They had just been on a _date_, and now she was going to his place, and what exactly was she thinking? She shook her head.

She drove to his house on autopilot – at this point she could find it blindfolded, she figured – lost in thought. He was _Cooper_; he was her best friend; he protected her from the monsters. She remembered the weird skull, and Cooper grasping around for her hand before running out of the haunted house. At a red light she put her head down on the steering wheel, not lifting it until honking alerted her that the light was now green.

He must have called from the car, because the pizza was waiting when she got there. Which was good, as she was starving. Half her slice already gone, she took the beer that Cooper held out. Carrying her plate into the living room, she sat on the couch.

Cooper put the movie in and sat next to her. He still smelled like hay and apple cider, she noticed. She scooted a little closer.

The opening credits rolled and she looked at Cooper, smiling around her slice of pizza. "I really had fun today."

"See? I told you haunted houses were awesome."

She nudged his knee with her own. "I can't believe you're scared of rollercoasters."

"I'm not scared! I just…prefer not to ride them. It's the hanging upside down, I think."

"Chicken."

"Says the grown woman who's afraid of a guy in a zombie costume."

"He was scary!"

Cooper laughed and put his arm around her. "I'll protect you from the big, bad monsters, remember?"

Violet leaned her head on his shoulder and they focused on the movie.

As the credits rolled Violet picked up their plates to take to the kitchen.

"So," he said, grabbing the empty beer bottles and following her. "I think that was a cinematic masterpiece."

Violet snorted. "You just liked the girls strutting around in high heels. You can't fool me."

"Hey," he protested. "It had artistic merit."

"It had low cut dresses."

"I'm a Zsa Zsa Gabor fan!"

"I don't buy it for a second."

Cooper laughed and turned to open the fridge. "Want another beer?" She was distracted by the width of his shoulders and didn't respond until his repeated "Earth to Violet," got her attention.

Jerking her attention back to him, she nodded and he tossed her one. They headed back to the living room. Settling on the couch, she leaned against him again and took a sip of her beer.

"That skull, that was really freaky," he began.

"Yeah. Who knew something with a name like "The Screaming Skull" could be so scary?"

"Scarier than zombie guy?"

"Hey, zombie guy freaked me out. He was gray and he said he wanted to eat my brain. I need my brain!" She cuddled a little closer to him.

"I like your brain." Cooper was smiling at her, and she dimly thought that his smile was a little dopey.

He was Cooper, and he had been unbearably sweet all day, and like a little kid in his enthusiasm.

"Hey," she said, and then she kissed him.

He tasted like pizza and beer, but with a little apple cider in there as well. It was surprisingly nice. Cooper was kissing her back, but after a moment she pulled away.

"Was that…ok?" She started to smile, but hesitated.

He smiled, even dopier than before. "Uh, I…yes. Very ok. Completely ok."

"Good." She leaned in and kissed him again. Finding his hand with her eyes closed, she entwined their fingers.


End file.
